Hook fastener element



May 13, 1969 OHN 3,443,290

I HOOK FASTENER ELEMENT Filed Jan. 12, 1967 III IN VEN TOR. Mun/a5 Kay/vUnited States Patent 3,443,290 HOOK FASTENER ELEMENT Maurice Cohn, SouthSt., South Coventry, Conn. 06238 Filed Jan. 12, 1967, Ser. No. 608,769Int. Cl. A44b 11/25 US. Cl. 24227 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Abook fastener element having a tongue for insertion through an eye, orstaple-like element, to releasably secure opposite end portions of agarment waistband. The hook element has transversely spaced prongs forpiercing the fabric, which prongs are clinched to an associated backingplate. An integral spacer flange is provided between the prongs toprevent crushing of the element during pressing of the garment.

Summary of invention This invention relates to hook and eye typefasteners, and deals more particularly with a hook fastener element foruse with an eye, or staple-like element, to secure the end portions ofagarment waistband.

The general object of the present invention is to provide an improvedhook element which is of simple construction, and yet is not susceptibleto crushing during pressing of the garment to which it is attached.

Brief description of drawing FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank from whicha hook element of the present invention can be fashioned.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the formed hook element of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the hook element shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a backing plate for use with the hook elementshown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the backing plate shown in FIG. 4, beingtaken along the line 5-5 of that figure.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view partially broken away and showing the hookelement with its associated backing plate attached to fabric.

Detailed description Turning now to the drawing in greater detail, FIG.1 shows a hook element of the present invention at an early stage of itsconstruction as comprising a generally flat blank which may be struckfrom a strip of sheet metal. The blank of FIG. 1 includes a tongue 10which extends outwardly from and is integrally connected to a bodyportion 12. The body portion 12 has transversely extending prongs 14, 14extending outwardly therefrom and a generally rectangularly shaped tabis provided opposite the tongue as shown at 16 for a purpose to bedescribed in greater detail hereinbelow.

In forming a hook element of the present invention from the blank shownin FIG. 1, the prongs 14, 14 are bent downwardly and inwardly throughapproximately a 90 angle and the tab 16 is bent inwardly and generallybeneath the body portion 12 through approximately 180 to form aninturned flange as best shown in FIG. 3.

A generally conventional backing plate 18, best shown in FIG. 4, isprovided with transversely spaced openings 20, 20 adjacent one of itsends for receiving the inturned prongs 14, 14. The backing plate 18 mayhave a raised portion 22 intermediate the prong receiving openings 20,20 as best shown in FIG. 5 at 22 to accommodate the prongs when they areclinched on an anvil in a clinching machine or the like as the hookelement and its associated 3,443,290 Patented May 13, 1969 ice backingplate are attached to fabric as shown in FIG. 6. Preferably, and as bestshown in FIG. 6, the backing plate 18 is canted slightly so as toprovide an opening with the tongue 10 of the hook element having aslightly larger width adjacent the end portions of the tongue and thegenerally coextensive backing plate 18. The relatively wide entry thusprovided facilitates engagement with an associated eye element or thelike. One type of eye element with which the hook element of the presentinvention can be used is shown in Patent No. 3,290,749 issued to CohnDec. 13, 1966.

As shown in FIG. 6, the hook element is clinched to its associatedbacking plate 18, and the prongs 14, 14 are turned inwardly toward oneanother and are generally located in the space provided by the raisedportion 22 of the backing plate 18. The fabric to which the hook elementis attached is indicated generally at 24, and it will be seen that thespacer tab, or flange 16, serves to space the tongue 10 above the outersurface of the fabric 24 in such a way as to prevent crushing of thehook element during pressing of the fabric. Finally, and still withreference to FIG. 6, it will be seen that the right-hand transverse edgeof the spacer flange 16 opposite the bend provides a convenient abutmentfor engaging an eye element when the hook 10 is inserted therein.

It should be noted that the hook element described hereinabove isparticularly well suited to withstand the tendency of some prior artdevices to open up due to the upward pulling force of an associated eyeelement which engages the underside of the tongue 10. As a result ofproviding the prongs 14, 14 on the body portion 12, instead of on thespacer element 16 as in some prior art devices, it will be seen that thehook element shown exhibits a greater resistance to opening up duringuse.

Still with reference to the spacer tab, or flange 16, it is furthernoted that this integral portion of the hook element described andclaimed herein is defined as being inturned to lie intermediate theprongs 14, 14 in order to space and support the tongue 10 outwardly fromthe front side of the fabric. The use of the term inturned as adoptedherein, is intended to include any spacer portion integrally formed withthe body portion 12. For example, a segment of the body portion 12 mightbe indented to a depth of approximately the thickness of the bodyportion to provide a hook element equivalent to the hook element shownand described herein. Therefore, the use of the term inturned in theappended claims should be interpreted to embrace equivalentconstructions such as the indented spacer flange just described. Itshould also be understood that while the integrally formed flange or tab16 has been shown and described herein as being inturned from oppositethe tongue 10, it can be struck from a portion of the tongue andinturned in the opposite direction, or it can be otherwise formed.

I claim:

1. A hook element for attachment to the outside of a fabric inassociation with a backing plate on the other side of the fabric, saidhook comprising a sheet metal body having two transversely spacedintegral prongs for piercing the fabric and to extend through spacedopenings in said backing plate to clinch the hook element to the fabric,a tongue formed integrally with the body to extend longitudinally in onedirection from the prongs for insertion in a complementary eye element,a flange formed integrally with the body to extend in the oppositedirection from the prongs but which is bent inwardly along a trans versebend line to lie in close proximity to the inside of said body betweenits prongs and substantially parallel to the body for spacing andsupporting the tongue outwardly from the fabric when the prongs areclinched behind the backing plate, the tongue being approximatelycoextensive-in length with said backing plate, and the backing platebeing formed to facilitate entry of the complementary eye elementbetween the tongue and backing plate.

2. A hook element for attachment to the outside of-a fabric inassociation with a backing plate on the other side of the fabric, saidhook comprising a sheet metal body having two transversely spacedintegral prongs for piercing the fabric and to extend through spacedopenings in said backing plate to clinch the hook element to the fabric,a tongue formed integrally with the body to extend longitudinally in onedirection from the prongs for insertion in a complementary eye element,a flange formed integrally with the body to extend in the oppositedirection from the prongs but which is bent inwardly along a. transversebend line to lie in close proximity to the inside of said body betweenits prongs and substantially parallel to the body for spacing andsupporting the tongue outwardly from the fabric when the prongs areclinched behind the backing plate, said transverse bend line beinglocated closely adjacent the prongs at the side thereof opposite saidtongue and the length of the flange being such that it does not extendsubstantially beyond said prongs in the direction of the tongue whenbent into contact with the body between the prongs, whereby the prongssubstantially cover the overlapped side edges of the body and theflange.

3. A hook element for attachment on the outer side of a fabric inassociation witha backing plate on the other side of the fabric, saidhook comprising a sheet metal body having two transversely spacedintegral prongs for piercing the fabric and to extend through spacedopenings in said backing plate to clinch the hook element to the fabric,a tongue formed integrally with the body to extend longitudinally in onedirection from the prongs for insertion in a complementary eye element,and'a flange formed integrally with the body to extend in the oppositedirection from the prongs but which is bent inwardly along a transversebend line to lie in close proximity to and substantially parallel to theinside of said bodybetween its prongs for spacing and supporting thetongue outwardly from the fabric when the prongs are clinched, thetongue being approximately coextensive in length with said backingplate. References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,998,627 9/ 1961 Wood24227 3,290,749 12/ 1966 Cohn 24227 3,305,906 2/ 1967 Patrick 24227BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner.

